Warm Welcome
by ficsofgreys
Summary: A oneshot with some soft Merluca and Ellis.


Meredith heard a key turning in her front door; he was a little later than expected but then again, no one ever had a set meal time or a set finishing time, that was the territory that came from being a Surgeon. She loved her job but she loved spending those precious few hours after work with Andrew even more. Hours at work often dragged but those hours spent with him were never ever long enough.

She'd even put him on her service for the week just to have him close by, this of course went against her usual _lets keep things low key at work _rule. And yet she didn't care, truly. Most of her colleagues knew that they were a thing by now, and if they didn't.. Well, they had seriously been missing out on the gossip that takes place in those hospital walls.

She sat curled up on the sofa with Ellis on her lap reading a third bedtime story as Andrew entered her house, he shuffled out of his backpack and placed his motorcycle helmet down near the door with a collection of various other outdoor clothing. A smile graced her lips as his eyes caught hers from across the hall way.

"Mommy, Andrew's finally here!" Ellis exclaimed, a little too loud. Her daughter had a new found love for him after he'd been spending more time at their house during the evenings before her kids went to bed.

"He is! Quick, go and give him a hug." Her excited four-year old jumped from the sofa and ran towards Andrew. He crouched down with a huge smile upon his face as Ellis threw her arms around his neck in a tight embrace. Meredith watched in awe at the clear bond created between them in such a short amount of time.

"Hey, kiddo!" Andrew lifted her into his arms and smoothed the hair away from her eyes. "Wait…" he glanced towards the clock on the wall with an eyebrow raised and then at Meredith who was now stood opposite him, "You're up _waaay_ past your bedtime."

Meredith nodded her head overenthusiastically, thankful that Andrew had noticed. She'd been having a hard time with putting Ellis to bed over the last few days, she seemed to have an inability to stay in her own bed despite the countless bedtime stories. "I guess someone wanted to stay up and welcome you." Meredith smiled watching as Andrew held his hand out for a high five. His loving nature towards her kids was everything she had hoped it would be and more.

"Mama now that Andrew's here I don't want to go to bed!" Ellis huffed as she grabbed a tight hold onto the collar of his leather jacket.

"Oh Ell Belle." She sighed, gazing into her daughter's eyes... a rich shade of blue which she had inherited from Derek. "You know, no one ever really wants to go to bed when they've had such a fun day. But the thing is you need rest so that when you wake up tomorrow you'll have plenty of energy for some more fun."

Ellis looked at her Mother and then at Andrew who nodded in agreement. Her little face lit up as he softly bounced her on his hip. "We'll go upstairs and you can have one story but then you've got to promise to go to sleep, what do you think about that?" He questioned, taking a step closer to Meredith and wrapping an arm around her waist so that all three of them were together in a warm hug.

"I promise." Ellis replied, placing her tired head upon his shoulder.

Andrew tiptoed up the stairs with Meredith right behind them; she smiled softly as he made a point of placing his index finger on his lips and whispered _'shhh'_ whilst walking past Zola and Bailey's rooms. He entered Ellis's room and lowered her so that she could comfortably jump down into her bed.

Meredith watched as Andrew made sure that she was all tucked up and cozy under the sheets. "I can read to her, you don't have to." She spoke up; a niggling feeling in the back of her mind that he shouldn't feel obliged to follow through with reading a story.

"No Mommy, Andrew's reading me my favourite book." Ellis pointed to her bedside table where _The Very Hungary Caterpillar _lay. He picked it up and followed the little girl's instructions to sit beside her on the bed.

"Mer, I don't mind at all." He breathed in a low tone, grabbing her hand and pulling close. "Squeeze in, there's enough room for you to hear too." He raised his eyebrows playfully and she shuffled on beside them both.

Ellis was unsurprisingly asleep before the end of the story and yet he continued to tell it, half in case she woke up and realized that it wasn't finished and half because Meredith's eyes had never left his face throughout. He silently closed the book and put it back in it's place making sure not to cause too much disturbance as he got up from the bed.

"Goodnight, Ellis." Andrew whispered, tucking her blanket in to ensure she would be warm enough. His fingers slowly brushed against a loose curl that had been covering her eyes and he lowered to place a kiss on her forehead.

Meredith raised her eyebrows at the unexpected affection shown to a child that wasn't his.

"Oh…" Andrew noticed her weary expression. "Sorry I- It's just…" He stuttered, feeling like he had over stepped a boundary.

"When I was a kid, my Mom would always stick to those three little steps at bedtime._ Read me a story, tuck me in tight, kiss me goodnight. _I guess it just brought back some memories of her which were etched in the back of my brain somewhere."

"No." Meredith spoke forcefully. "You don't have to ever apologize for that." Her arm instinctively wrapped around his waist and lead him down the hall to her bedroom.

She sat on her bed and reached out for him, threading her fingers through his as he sat beside her.

"Andrew, they love you." Meredith sighed half with tiredness and half with an overwhelming realization that if things all work out he would indeed be right by her side watching and nurturing her children as they grew up.

Andrew held her close; her physical contact was as comforting as a hot cocoa on a cold Seattle evening. "I love them too, Meredith. I really love them too."

**A/N Hi this was only a quick one shot - please leave feedback if you enjoyed :) **


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